Master clip opening means for rotary duplicating machines



June 3, 1952 H. GERLACH MASTER CLIP OPENING MEANS FOR ROTARY DUPLICATINGMACHINES 2 SHEETS-SHEET l Filed Sept. 25, 1948 WAGE .2

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@MGM by June 3, 1952 H. GERLAcH 2,599,252 MASTER CLIP OPENING MEANS FORROTARY. DUPLICATING MACHINES Filed sept. 2s, 194e 2 Simms-SHEET 2Patented June 3, 1952 MASTER CLIP OPENING MEANS FOR ROTARY DUPLICATINGMACHINES Hugo Gerlach, London, England, assigner to Block & AndersonLimited, London, England,

a British company Application September 23, 1948, Serial No. 50,683 InGreat Britain September 27, 1947 4 Claims.

This invention relates to motor clip opening means for rotaryduplicating machines in which printing is performed by a printing coupleconsisting of a printing roller on which the master to be printed isreleasably secured, and a cooperating pressure or platen roller. In suchmachines there is usually a predetermined angular position of theprinting roller or drum in which the means securing the master, e. g.clips engaging the leading edge of the master, can be released for thepurpose of removing or inserting a master. A typical example of such amachine, to which the present invention is particularly applicable is arotary hectographic copying machine in which the master is a sheetcarrying in mirror inscription inhectographic ink the matter to becopied, and copies are taken on sheets fed to the printing couple thetransfer of hectographic ink to produce the copies being effected undercontrolled damping with a solvent for the ink. Generally, the solvent isapplied to the copy sheet as the latter is fed to the printing couple.

The present invention is concerned with the means for controlling thedevice seeming the master to the drum, hereinafter referred to as theclip.

According to the invention, in a hand-operated rotary printing machinecomprising a clip for securing a master to a roller or drum and meansfor opening and closing the clip in a pre-determined position of thedrum, the master clip opening mechanism is operated by a pivotal levermounted so that its free end describes an arc approximately coincidentwith or parallel to that described by the machine operating handleduring that part of its motion corresponding to the approach of the drumto the clip-operating position, rlhe end of the pivotal lever may thenbe so arranged adjacent the path of the main operating handle that theoperator can engage the pivotal lever with a finger or lingers of thehand holding the operating handle, so that in the terminal phase of themovement of the operating handle the operator can With the same handoperate the lever to open the master clip without letting go of orinterrupting the motion of the operating handle. At the end of eachprinting cycle of a hand machine, i. e. after each com'- plete rotationofthe drum, it is usual for the drum to be releasably retained in a restposition as by the engagementof a spring-loaded roller in a dwell. Inthe hand-operated machine according to the invention the actuation ofthe lever to open the clip or other master-securing means is adapted tointerpose a stop in the path omotion oi the drum so that the drum ispositively itil-216) secured against rotation in the printing senseWhile the clip is open. i The usual drum location in the rest positionmay be retained, in which case it is desirable to provide means fordisabling this drum locating means if desired, e. g. by providing a camfor lifting the spring-loaded roller into an inoperative position whendrum location at the end of each cycle is not required.

According to another feature of the present invention, the drive to theprinting drum may include a lost-motion arrangement which is operativein the position in which the clip or master-securing means can beopened, so that in this position the printing drum is temporarilydisconnected from the drive andV in the relative movement of the driveto take up the lost motion provision is made for the drive to operatethe mechanism closing the master-securing means if the latter are open,so that the master-securing means are invariably closed before the driveis imparted to the drum. The lost-motion or intermittent drive may beachieved by a multilated gear drive with an indexing mechanism of theGeneva cross type for bringing the gear teeth into re-engagement at theend of the lost-motion travel. If provision is made for locating thedrum in a rest position, this rest position corresponds substantiallywith the mid-point of the lost-motion travel of the operating handle. Inthe handmachine according to this embodiment of the invention, theclip-closing mechanism is automatically operated during the travel ofthe operating handle from its rest position through the lost-motion ineither direction, so that the operator cannot cause the printing drumtobe rotated With the master clip still open. The automatic closing of theclip may be effected by the handle itself engaging and tripping a catch,or by the transmission from the handle tripping a catch before anoperative driving connection is established ybetween the handle and themaster drum. To prevent damage if the operator inadvertently moves thehandle in the reverse direction instead of in the normal direction, twocatches both associated with the clip-closing mechanism are provided,one for each direction of movement from the rest position of the handle.

In order that the invention may be better understood and more readilycarried into eiect, reference will now be had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an end elevation of the printing drum and associatedmechanisms. I

Figure 2 is a fragmentary front elevation corresponding to Figure l. I p

Figure 3 is an enlarged end elevation showing only the clip opening anddrum locating mechanisms of Figure 1.

The printing drum I is secured on its spindle 2 which is journalled ateach end in a bearing 3 associated with the corresponding side frame -4of the machine. The `drum I is rotated by means of an operating handle 5secured on a shaft 6 journalled in a bearing 'I associated with thecorresponding side frame 4. The shaft 6 is connected to the drum I by asuitable gearing. -In practice, a transmission ratio of 2:1'is'foundconvenient so that two complete revolutions of the handle 5correspond to one complete revolution of the drum I.

The hectographic master sheet from .which copies are to be taken isreleasably'lsecuredto the drum I by a clip mechanism. 'Ihat shown in thedrawing comprises a movable clip Smember which is slidable substantiallyradially in rela- .tion to the drum and having an inclinedV clamping jawco-operating with a correspondinglyinclined surface 9 provided on thevdrum I to constitute the ixedrclamping jaw. Normally, the clip 9 is heldclosed by a spring II)l retracting-.the member' 8 into the closed orclamping position from the open position shown inFigures land 3. Whenthe Vhectographic master sheet is clamped on thedrum I, copies are takenin Well known manner lby ypassing copy f sheets to the .printing coupleconstituted by the master drum lI and a pressure 'roller (notshown inthe drawings), the individual copy sheets being moistened with a solventfor the hectographic ink to cause .copies to be taken. The moisteningarrangement,

which constitutes no part of the present inven- -tion'may take any.convenient form but is not .showny in the drawing :and will not befurther described.

For :introducing or removing a hectographic .master sheet,'the Vclamp8,'9ahas to be'opened,

this being done'in Va predetermined position of the drum YI. For this.purpose, the Amovable member 8 is engaged-by an arm II Vassociated witha cam leverl I2 and mountedfor movingtherewith aboutv a pivot I3providedn on :the drum l I.

-A light spring I4 engaging the cam lever I2 serves `to eliminate play.For moving theclip'member l3 into the openl position,the'cam` lever I2vis engaged by a roller-lse that in'the'rotation of the drum I, the lcamlever I2and thev associated lever II are rockedinto the clipopeningposi-Y tion shown in .Figures 1 and v3. The3roller I5 is mounted on oneend of a lever I'I pivoted ona boss I8 provided on the side frame 4` ofthe machine. The other end of the lever I'Icarries an arm I5 which is'pivotally mounted on-'the lever I'I and extends substantially at Vrightangles to the side frame V4 which isprovided with -an arcuate slot 22through which the.arm-l9, projects.

The arm I9 is-mounted for aV limited pivotation in the planeppassingthrough-the lever I'I and the arm I9 and is'loaded by a spring'Zconstantly tending .to .urge the under face of the arm I9 against thellower edgeof the .slot 422. The boss I 8 is located as close as`possible tothe shaft 6so thatas the-handleiE Vapproaches the restposition in whichitis shown in `Figures l and 3, the handle beingarranged'fonclockwise rotation in those ifigures, the handgrip `oixthehandle 5 sweeps out a path which isatleastladjacent the slot 22. Thustheknob 2| atthe projecting end of the arm 9v canlbeengagedbvtheoperator with a lingery of the hand hldi-ng'the grip of the handle 5,sothatl without eleasing the handle -5 or interrupting the movingfhereof 4 the operator can move the knob 2I with the handle 5 from theclip closed position at the right hand end of the slot 22 in Figures 1and 3 into the clip open position as shown in Figures 1 and 3. ,In thisposition, the arm I9 is urged into a recess 24 in a catch plate'23secured to the side frame 4 adjacent the slot 22. The lever II isthereby locked in the clip open position in which it remains until thelever I'I is released whereupon the action of the spring I0 closes theYclip 8. This release may be elected by the operator lifting the knob 2lto disengage the arm 'lffrom the recess 24. Alternative means fordisengaging the arm I9 from the recess 24 will be described hereinafter.The position of the lever II shown in Figures 1 and 3 represents theposition assumed for opening the clip 8. At other times, 'the lever IIoccupies a position in which the arm I9 is at the right hand end of theslot 22 (Figures A1 and 3), a light spring (not shown) being provided tourge the lever I'I into this last-mentioned position and to hold itthere except Awhen the lever I'I is moved `by the voperator as describedabove.

`When the clip 8 is open, it is desirable that the drum I should be heldagainst rotation. For this purpose, the drum I carries a drum locatingplate 25 which has a recess 26 in which engages a roller 21 carried on alever l28 pivotally mounted on the lever I'I and turning about the sameaxis. A spring 29 extending between the lever I'I and the lever 28 tendsto cause the lever 28 to follow the movement of the lever I'I inclockwise movement (Figures 1 and 3), so-that a pin 30 on the lever `28remains in engagement with a recess 3l in the lever I'I. The engagementof the roller 21 with the face of'theplate .25 during the movement ofthe lever I'I into the clip open position causes the'lever 28 tovpivotrelatively to the lever II against the action of the spring 29 until theroller 21 drops into' the recess 26 whereupon the parts assume therelative positionsshown in Figures v1 and 3. When the clip is closed bythe movement of the lever I'I from the position shown to the other endof the slot 22, the engagement of the pin 30 by .the lever I'Ipositively rocks the lever 28 to Withdraw the roller 2'I from the recess26to release the drum I for rotation.

For the operation of the machine as described above, a direct andcontinuous drive from the shaft 6 to the spindle 2 bymeans of asimpleggear train is sucient. However, the provision of an lintermittentdrive vbetween theshaft 6 `and the spindle 2introduces the posibilitygofproviding an .automatic release for the clip opening mechanism, and suchan arrangement will now be described more fully with reference to Figurel.

Agear wheel 32 on the Yshaft 6 engages an equalgear wheel .33. Thewheel;33 also 4meshes with a gear wheel 34' having twice the diameter,thus, providing'the Adesired 2:1 ratio. A mutilated gear 35 fast withthe wheel 34 is Varranged `for :engagement -with `a. complementarymutilated gear 36 fast with the drum I. The gears`35r36 are arranged togive a periodof idle movement .ofthe handle i..e.rotation of the handle5 without imparting vcorresponding rotation to the drumfafter eachcomplete rotation of the drum. YFor thispurposeVin theY constructionshown, the gear=35..hasltwo high teeth 31 spaced by a rela- :tively.wide recess 38whereas the -gear636 has a single high tooth 39 with arecess 40 on'each side. It-will beapparent that in the clockwiserotationbf thehandle '5 (Figure `1). the VWheel 35 also rotatesclockwise but does not drive the drum in the interval between thedisengagement of the leading high tooth 31 from the corresponding recess40 and the engagement of the trailing face of the recess 38 with thecorresponding face of the high tooth 39 with simultaneous engagement ofthe trailing high tooth 31 with the corresponding recess 40. In thisway, an idle movement is achieved for the handle starting from the restposition of the drgm I. This idle movement can be utilised for theautomatic closure of the clip 8. Assume the clip 8 to be open in therest position of the drum I, so that the various parts are in theposition shown in Figure 1. A plate 4I adjustably mounted on the wheel34 carries two spaced pins 42 between which engages the cam-shaped end44 Qf the lever 43 pivotally mounted on the side frame of the machine.Rotation of the plate 4I from the rest position of the machine causesone of the pins 42 to engage the cam 44 to displace the lever 43. A rod45 attached to the lever 43 transmits this displacement to a trip lever4B which is pivotally mounted on the side frame 41 and the free end ofwhichvlies beneath the arm I9 adjacent the catch plate 23. Thedisplacement of the lever 4B by the rod 45 under the control of a pin 42causes the arm I9 to be lifted out of the recess 24 in the catch plate23, so that the lever I1 is released and re-assumes the clip closedposition. Simultaneously, the drum locating device is released. As thisoccurs during the idle movement of the handle 5, it is ensured that theclip is closed and the drum locating device is released before the driveto thedrum from the handle 5 becomes operative.

I claim:

l. A hand operated rotary printing machine having a, frame including aside plate, a rotatable printing drum journaled in the side plate, amaster clip movable on the drum between open and closed positions, anoperating handle rotatable on the side plate. an operating connectionbetween the handle and the drum, and means for operating said clip in apredetermined position of the drum; said clip operating means includinga lever pivoted on the side plate for oscillation in a plane parallel tothe plane of rotation of said operating handle, and said lever having a,hand engageable terminal extending therefrom proximate the operatinghandle for movement therewith through an arc parallel to that describedby the handle during that part of its motion corresponding to approachof the drum to said predetermined position.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1; said pivoted lever moving in onedirection to open said master clip and in the opposite direction toclose the same, a plate carried by said drum and having an edge notchtherein, and a stop on said pivoted lever engaging said notch when thelever is in clip open position to prevent printing rotation of the drumWhile the clip is open.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 1; said pivoted lever being mountedinwardly of said side plate, and said side plate having therein anarcuate slot through which the hand engageable terminal of the pivotedlever extends.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 1; a gear train connecting theoperating handle with the drum, said gear train including a lost-motiondevice effective to disconnect the device to permit the handle to rotateindependently of the drum when the handle is in the vicinity of the clipoperating means.

HUGO GERLACH,

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:Y

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,133,630 Morrison Oct. 18, 19382,177,578 Neidich Oct. 24, 1939 2,185,188 Flangan Jan. 2, 1940 2,220,282Ritzerfeld Nov. 5, 1940 2,380,744 Ford July 31, 1945 2,479,865 RobinsonAug. 23, 1949

